Tuesday, December 15, 2009

There's this really unique radio show out of Davis, CA called Phoning It In, where they call an artist up, talk to them for a couple minutes, and then have them play live over the phone. Being as into the lo-fi as I am, I couldn't say no when they asked me to come on the show. The whole drunken conversation and live piece were caught on tape and uploaded to the Phoning It In website, so if you like some heavy midrange in your stereo from time to time, this would be for you. Here's what they had to say about it:

Brian Grainger phones it in from Columbia, SC. Ridiculously prolific doesn't even begin to describe Brian's work ethic, with almost two hundred releases under at least eight different names (Milieu, Coppice Halifax, Teenager, Vhom, Pink Space, etc.); to top it off he also has a hand in three labels and a mailorder distro. But that's all beside the point: what's on the phone? Dense, beautiful drone that resolves satisfyingly into emotive, detuned guitar. Noise devolving into song, instead of the other way around. So good!

Well, it's official: The Analog Botany series has ended. I might be tempted to pick it up again sometime in the future, but for now I'm leaving you with over four hours of material to digest. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I have!

AB11 / COPPICE HALIFAX / DRY SEASONS

The eleventh EP in the AB series. Two long tracks of super-warbly dub chords, soaked in the usual mile-long reverb and phased out to infinity. These two tracks show a marked slowdown from the pace of the previous EPs, sticking more to deep atmospherics and repetition to the point of near-hypnosis. Intended to be released in November, but pushed up a month. Better late than never, and limited to 50 copies.

The last chapter of the Analog Botany excursion, bringing the total runtime of the 12-part series to a staggering 4 hours! It's been a really fun and enlightening project, one that has yielded music I never thought I'd make. In a stately fashion I'm ending the series on a beatless note, providing some finality and contrast to the previous EPs. Think Rod Modell meets those Torsten Profrock releases on Chain Reaction, and you're probably fairly close. Intensely washed-out synths bouncing softly and slowly off one another to create a swirling opium fog. Limited to 50.

To cap off the AB series right, this disc is the REAL sendoff. An hour of botanical bliss, featuring eight songs from throughout the year that, for one reason or another, were left off of the EPs proper. Three dub-rebuilds based off of source from my good friend Pat Benolkin (aka Eluder/Electricwest), alternate versions of "Luxury", "Forest" and "Dusk II" and finally two early tracks conceived for an upcoming album (Halifaxian) that were also omitted. What you get is a very tight hour of melodic ambient dub music, done exactly in the fashion of the AB series, and probably what I'd consider as some of my personal favorite material from 2009. Limited to50 copies in stamped paper sleeves.

Also grown in the AB pastures this year was a split with Norwegian melodic genius EOD, appearing here as CN. I've opted to summarize my moniker to CH for a super-confusing tracklisting, and what you get is 5 tracks (two originals, three remixes) of raw, melodic braindance. Acid lines abound and collide with classic 707s, 808s, 909s and thick 101 bass. Add to the mix my own flavor of dubby chord stabs, CN's sine tone lead melodies and you end up with a whole lot of funky electronic grooving for just half an hour. Definitely one to take to your next house party. Limited to 50!

About Me

I make a lot of music, I help run a couple great record labels, I'm happily married, I'm better at school than I used to be, I'm half English and half Italian, I really love food, I'm named after my father's favorite Rolling Stones.